BBC DEVON

Devon auction featuring 300 years of clock history

admin November 9, 2025

Chilcotts Auctioneers and Valuers A brown wooden clock with a painted face that depicts houses and green grass and a boy above the face. The picture of the clock is on a light purple background. — Chilcotts Auctioneers and Valuers said it took three days to move the collection to their offices

A collection of clocks and barometers that make up “300 years of history” are set to be sold at auction on 15 November.

Chilcotts Auctioneers and Valuers said it took three days to remove the entire collection, made up of more than 60 clocks and barometers spanning the late 17th Century to the 20th Century, and take it to their headquarters.

It said the collector had worked on the railways but in his spare time collected and repaired clocks.

The highest valued clock in the collection is an 18th Century George III Chinoiserie tavern or “Act of Parliament” clock, which has a sale estimate of between £1,500 and £2,000.

Chilcotts said many of the clocks were bought from South West dealers, fairs and auction houses, including Chilcotts, and others came from London sales

Chilcotts Auctioneers and Valuers A black and gold clock with a gold face. The picture is on a black background. — Chilcotts said many of the clocks were bought from South West dealers, fairs and auction houses, including Chilcotts, and others came from London sales

Chilcotts said many of the clocks had been purchased from South West dealers, fairs and auction houses and others came from London sales.

It added several clocks came from the collector’s love of railways, such as station clocks from London, the Midlands, and Barnstaple.

Many of them still had their original parts and were stamped with the same registration number, Chilcotts said.

These included a late 19th Century drop-dial wall clock from South Molton Street Station, London.

The clocks will go on auction on 15 November

Chilcotts Auctioneers and Valuers A small brown clock with a white clock face and the numbers in roman numerals. The photo is on a light purple background. — The clocks will go on auction on 15 November

‘300 years of history’

Auctioneer Barnaby Willis, who catalogued the collection, said: “This was clearly a massive passion for the collector, with so many superb examples of clocks and barometers plus an extensive assortment of parts and tools including lathes, drills and precision tools.”

“There are plenty of appealing and affordable options from 300 years of history, collected over 60 years.”

He said the sale also included a partly completed, scratch built live steam 4-6-0 Hall class locomotive and tender.

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